Clamping device



March 28, 1944. VE 2,345,436

CLAMPING DEVICE Filed July 11, 1942 7/ ///V 3 C.N.S7'0VER A 7" TORNEY Patented Mar. 28, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GLAMPING DEVICE Clyde N. Stover, Towson, Mdl, assignor'to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York', N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 11, 1942, Serial No. 4501621 6 Claims.

In the manufacture of paper insulated lead sheathed cables employed for communication purposes, it is customary to open up sections of the cable cores and to transpose the wires of the several pairs making up the core. In performing this operation, a section of the cable core is preferably clamped-to a bench to prevent extensive movement thereof while the individual conductors are being severed, transposed. and brazed.

Formerly metal clamps were used to secure the cable core to a bench and a plurality of bushings had to be provided for each clampto permit the clamps to be used upon cable cores of different diameters. Aside from the fact that the metallic clamps sometimes damaged the cable cores, the necessity of stocking a large number of bushings of various sizes involved a considerable investment in small items and required the provision.

of storage space for the unused bushings. Fur-' thermore, the changing of the bushings to accommodate different sized cable cores consumed valuable time.

The object of this invention is to provide.

invention, there is provided an elongated article gripping member made of a flexible material, such. as canvas, which is fixed at one end and which is provided with a slot extending transversely across a portion thereof. In using this device, a cable core, or like elongated element, is placed transversely across the gripping member, and the free end of the gripping member is passed over the cable core, through the transverse slot and under the cable core. Means are also provided for engaging the free end of the gripping member and pullingit away from the fixed end thereof until the gripping member has firmly grasped the cable core. A suitable fastening means is supplied to secure the several elements of the device in the latter position.

A clear understanding of the invention may be had from the following detailed description of a specific embodiment of the invention, when read in conjunction with the annexed drawing, in which Fig. lis atop plan view of: a clamping device embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is: an end elevation'thereof; and

Fig. 3 is afragmentary sectional view thereof taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to Fig. 1 of-- the drawing, the clamping device illustrated therein comprises a base plate. H], to one end: of which is-secured an elongated article gripping member ||,,preferably made of a flexible fabric such as canvas. The end of the gripping member H is fastened to the base plate. II] by means of a strap I2 and screws. l3-|3; The base plate I may be secured to a shop bench or' other" support by means of lag bolts |4|4, or. the like; The article gripping member II is provided with a transverse slot |5 through which an'ae'longated tongue shaped portion It of the gripping-.member may freely pass. A ring. I8 issecuredzto' the free end of the tongue shaped. portion |6" by means of 31 .1001) l9.

Adjacent to the end of thebase plate. 10 opposite thestrip. I2 is. antarm. 2| pivotally'mounted upon a post 22 extending upwardly from the base plate l0. Thearm 2| extends upwardly. as at:23

and then outwardly, as shownin Fig. 2,, andra handle 24 is provided. upon the outer end of. the

arm 2|. The arm 2| isalso provided witha cross arm 25 havingan arcuate slot 26 formeditherein,

which is positioned directly above a post. 28

secured to the base plate It. Ahandwheel' has a threaded stud 3| formed. thereon which passes through the slot 26 and is screwed into a threaded bore 29 formed: in the post 28; When the hand wheel 30' is tightened sufiiciently,. a shoulder 33 thereon engages the'cross: arm 25 and securely fastens the arm 2| in any desired position. A stud 35 extends upwardly from the arm 2| and a semicircular lug,,36 formedon one side of the arm 2| carries a stud .37- which is identical with the stud 35;

In the operation of the device, the article gripping member II is laid out fiat upon the base plate Ill, and a cable core 39, or other elonated article which it is desired to secure in a fixed position, is placed transversely: across the gripping member H, as shown in Fig. 1. The

ring I8 is then passed around the cable core 39,

through the slot I5. The arm 2| is then rotated' in a clockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 1, until than once.

ber exerts a firm gripping pressure upon the cable core 39 and prevents longitudinal or lateral movement thereof. Thus, the cable core is held firmly and splicing or other operations may be performed thereon without having the core slide about on the shop bench. While the gripping member Il grips the cable. core. 39 firmly, it has no sharp edges or projections which tend to injure the insulation or any of, the conductors making up the cable core, and thus the injuries which were sometimes caused by metallic clamps are eliminated by the use of this device. Obviously, two or more of-these clamping devices may be used to secure an article in a desired position, and the device may be used in connection with articles 'otherthan cable cores, if desired.

It is apparent that the article gripping device constituting this invention may be used to accommodate cable cores or other articles of various sizes, from very small ones to extremely large ones. By selecting either the stud 35 or the stud 3l to be engaged by the ring it, a considerable amount of latitude is permitted. Also the elongated arcuate slot 26 inthe cross arm 25 and the hand. wheel 3!] permits the arm 2| to be secured'in any one of a number of positions, any one of which may represent a cable core or other article of a different size.

The device is also not limited in its use to the securing of articles of circular cross section. The device may be used to secure articles of irregular cross section because the flexible gripping member II will accommodate itself to the contour of the articles. It may be desirable, especially when small cable cores or other articles are to be secured, to wrap the tongue shapedportion iii of thegrippingmember ll. around the core more This may be accomplished readily by passing the tongue shaped portion it around the article and through the slot I5 the desired number of times.

The specifioembodiment of the invention which is shown in the accompanying drawing and described inthe foregoing specification is merely illustrative of the invention, and various changes and modifications may be made therein positioned, and means for urging the free end of the gripping member away from the fixed end thereof to draw the gripping member tightly around an article positioned in the looped portion thereof to firmly secure the article therein.

2. An article clamping device, which comprises a flexible article gripping member having one end thereof fixed and having a portion thereof formed into a loop in which an article may be positioned, means for engaging the free end of the gripping member and for urging said free end away from the fixed end thereof to draw the gripping member tightly around an article positioned in the looped portion thereof to firmly secure the article therein, and means for securing the several elements of the device in any one of a number of positions.

3. A cable core clamping device, which comprises an elongated flexible article gripping member having a transverse slot formed therein through which one end thereof may be passed to form an article gripping loop, means for securing the other end of the gripping member in a fixed position, and means for urging the free end of the gripping member away from the fixed end thereof to draw the gripping member tightly around an article positioned therein to firmly secure the article. i

4. A cable clamping device, which comprises an elongated flexible article gripping member made of a textile fabric, said member having a slot formed transversely thereof and having a tongue portion formed at one end thereof which .arm, mean for securing the arm in anyone of a number of positions, and an elongated fabric gripping member secured at one end to the base plate, the gripping member having a slot formed transversely thereof through which the free end thereof may be passed to form an article gripping loop and means on the free end of the gripping member for engaging the stud on the arm.

6. A cable core gripping device, which comprises a base member, an arm pivotally mounted near one end of the base member, which arm has a stud projecting upwardly therefrom and is provided with an arcuate slot, a post secured to the base plate and positioned beneath the slot, means extending through the slot and cooperating with the post for securing the arm in a predetermined position, an elongated fabric "gripping member secured at one'end to a part of the base member removed from the rotatable arm, which gripping member is provided with a transverse slot and a tongue portion whichmay pass freely through said slot, and meansupon the free end of the gripping memberfor engaging the stud on the arm.

l CLYDE N. STOVER. 

